Truck Driver Dies After Hitting Tree In Gloucester County Crash: Police

MONROE TOWNSHIP, NJ — A truck driver died in a crash Thursday afternoon after a car drifted into his path and diverted the semi into another lane and off the road, Monroe Township police said.

The crash happened on Malaga Road (C.R. 659) near Morgan Road at around 12:35 p.m., according to township police. Richard Lupton of Newport (Cumberland Co.) was driving a 1995 Mack truck with a tractor-trailer eastbound on Malaga Road.

Police said a westbound 2018 Hyundai Elantra drifted into the east lane "for an unknown reason," and hit the truck around 919 East Malaga Road. Lupton's truck continued east, going into the other lane and hitting the driver's side of a 2017 Nissan Rogue that was going west.

The truck went into the lawn of a home in the 900 block of East Malaga Road, and hit a tree with its front end, Monroe Township police said. Lupton, 62, was pronounced dead at 1:50 p.m. as a result of injuries he sustained in the crash, police said.

The driver of the Hyundai, a Camden woman, was airlifted to Cooper Trauma with a serious lower body injury, Monroe Township police said. The driver of the Nissan Rogue, a Millville woman, went to Jefferson Hospital in Washington Township for evaluation, police said.

Witnesses stayed on scene and told police what happened, officials said. No one has been arrested or charged in connection with the crash as of Friday afternoon.